School Tours: Every Picture Tells a Story
Grades 4–12
Please note: The Gallery is no longer taking School Tour requests for fall 2009. Please check back on December 1 to begin requesting School Tours for winter and spring 2010. You can still review information about tours and planning self-guided visits by clicking on the links below.
Using a narrative lens, this tour looks at paintings as unfolding stories with multiple perspectives. Students learn to "read" works of art, creating dialogue and discovering dramatic tension and meaning. Through careful looking and conversation, they are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
Looking and Learning Skills
During four to six tour stops, students engage in activities—such as looking exercises, working in small groups, sketching, and writing—that foster conversations about works of art. The following skills are promoted:
- Making and articulating careful observations
- Formulating questions that demonstrate curiosity and engagement
- Examining paintings from the perspectives of peers, the artists, and the people in the paintings as well as physically exploring viewpoints from different vantage points throughout the Gallery
- Comparing and connecting different paintings
- Reasoning with evidence from the artworks themselves—developing narratives based on what's seen in the work of art
- Connecting new ideas learned from the tour to prior knowledge and experience
Group Size: Up to 60 students
Length: 75 minutes
Meeting Location: West Building, Rotunda, Main Floor
Museum policies
Student lunches
General information
What is object-based teaching and learning?